470 MINNESOTA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



this wonderful exhibit from August to the close of the fair, required 

 over 20,000 plates of fruit. The great number of varieties go to show- 

 that considerable experimental planting has been done, and that 

 they are meeting with marked success in developing a pomology 

 from which it may reasonably be expected that future planters can 

 select a sufficient number of varieties that are adapted to their con; 

 ditions and profitable to grow. 



In the management of the societ}^ the state is divided into dis- 

 tricts (twelve in all), each having a director. These directors are 

 elected at the annual meetings of the society for the term of two 

 3-ears, so arranged that the time of one-half expires each j^ear. These 

 directors have the oversight of the horticultural work in their re- 

 spective districts, report at each annual meeting on the fruit crop 

 of the year and the general condition of horticulture in their dis- 

 tricts, and, as a whole, they constitute a board of management to 

 which is intrusted the affairs of the society when not in session. 



The meeting convened at 10 a. m. on the 21st of November, with 

 President A. F. Collman in the chair. The morning session was 

 mostly taken up with the reports of directors. The substance of 

 the reports was that the apple crop. was light in all parts of the 

 state, in some parts almost a failure, and in onlj' a few localities 

 reaching a good half crop, with the quality only medium or under. 

 Plums ranging from nearlj^ a failure in three districts to poor in three 

 others, and from a fourth of to a full crop in the remainder; but the 

 fruit not being as large and fine as in some seasons, owing to the 

 extreme drouth. Grapes were reported as from a good to an extra 

 good crop,with fruit very superior in qualitj^. Cherries ver3' nearlj^ a 

 failure, except in one district (the tenth), where they were reported 

 as good. Raspberries generally ranged from one-fourth to a full 

 crop, averaging fair. Blackberries were a good crop in two districts, 

 and ranged from total failure to one-half crop in others. Strawber- 

 ries were a light crop all over the state, and currants almost a fail- 

 ure. 



In every part of the state the Duchess of Oldenburg is commended 

 as the most profitable earlj' market apple and is still being extens 

 ively planted. In the southern half of the state the Ben Davis and 

 Jonathan are taking the lead as winter varieties. Those fruit grow- 

 ers in localities where a system of co-operation has been adopted, 

 are getting the best financial returns from the business, and it was 

 a commonly accepted opinion that unless this system was generally 

 adopted, small fruit growing must be much curtailed in the future, 

 because the facilities afforded by cold storage, now coming into gen- 

 eral use, puts local growers into direct competition with the fruits 

 of distant growers froin more favored localities and breaks down 

 the market; while with co-operation they will be able to ship to dis- 

 tant markets and thus avoid the glut in the home market. 



The director of the second district said: "I regret that I cannot 

 report a general interest horticulturally, an interest that reaches out 

 and takes hold of every owner of a plat of ground, however small, 

 that he calls his home, and compels him to plant and care for fruit- 

 bearing vines and trees." It is his opinion that fruit raising is con- 

 fined to too narrow a limit and not followed with sufficient knowl- 



